How to Write a Costco Essay that gets you to Ivy League University

Last Updated: 29 March 2020

Costco essay writing

We live in times when anything can go viral and make one famous. That is the case with the famous Costco essay. A high school student by the name Brittany Stinson got accepted to five Ivies after penning a college admission essay that explored her life and her abiding love for Costco, and it got the internet cheering!

At just 18 years, Brittany Stinson from Concord High School found out that her noble admission essay got her accepted to five Ivy League Universities. We are talking about Yale, University of Pennsylvania, Cornell, Dartmouth, Stanford University, and Columbia University.

Anybody who has been through high school would agree that after college, a period of emptiness and loneliness sets in. It is like one’s creativity freezes, and they begin to brainstorm in the future, which is always hazy.

Nevertheless, being accepted to higher learning institutions such as colleges or universities marks an important transition. Most students consider it a milestone. If your child is aiming to get acceptance to competitive universities, they must be ready to write something that beats the Costco college essay.

Agreeably, common app essays or personal statements define the thin line between being accepted or rejected from unis like Dartmouth or Yale.

Knowing how to write the Costco essay was written would probably help you to craft the best admission essay or a personal statement that convinces the admissions committee or board.

What is the Costco Essay? Anyway?

A stellar performance in both SATs and GPA scores cannot suffice as a criterion for admission. Instead, most universities and colleges will always demand that you write either a personal statement or an admission essay, for which they provide prompts.

The Costco Essay is an essay, also known as Brittany Stinson’s essay, and is a personal statement that got Brittany to all the Ivy League Universities or schools, including Stanford.

The Costco Personal statement is not a mere essay about Costco. Rather, it is a college essay about the experiences of the student at Costco stores. She submitted it in response to a college application prompt in 2016. The prompt read as below:

Prompt 1: Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

Given the prompt, Brittany wrote the admission essay to the best of her knowledge. And while at it, she exhibited creativity, critical thinking, and organization skills. She clearly described her meaningful experience that gave a clear description of her personality. The Costco essay also explored her relationship with the Costco wholesale retailer. Smartly, she captured the moments well relating her childhood, teenage, personal qualities, and strength and how they each related to her studies.

Thanks to her wisdom, she finally got accepted to the Ivy League, which is notorious for having a low acceptance rate, and it is hard to get to it.

You can check the Costco essay example from the Business Insider. Other essays have captured hearts, as reported by the Washington Post. Do you member the famous Pizza admission essay? Well, it also went viral.

What can you learn on Admission Essay Writing from the Costco Essay?

costco personal essay writing process

A great student is one who learns through apprenticeship. The Costco college personal statement is a chance for students to learn how to write great personal statements, statements of purpose, and admission essays that win them admission to the colleges or universities of their dreams.

  1. Choose an outstanding topic. One of the most salient features of the Costco essay was its theme that was well reflected in the topic. Even with the personal statement prompt in place, always choose an outstanding topic for your admission essay and a personal statement alike. But the prompt is a great place to start when brainstorming about a topic. Everybody can win the hearts of the admissions committee by writing an essay about themselves or everyday experience. However, it takes a special kind of creativity to twin the theme with the topic carefully. When writing your personal statement, make sure your topic stands out. Make it short, memorable, and entertaining.
  2. Research and think outside the box. Although critics argue that the Costco essay or the Pizza essays, despite winning their authors admissions, are overrated, the truth is that they were well written. Each of the authors exhibits deep thinking, research, and reasoning. In her case, Brittany focused on how her family shopped at Costco. However, to make it appealing, she shared her personal experiences and how they affected the growth of her personality. In fact, she defied the mother’s wish and was willing to learn about free samples, goods, and even sales. In Papa John’s Pizza essay that won Carolina Williams an admission to Yale, the story is the same. It reflected her passion, which is an aspect that you must communicate in your college essay.
  3. Choose an underlying theme. Just like a poem or a book review, a personal statement with a realizable theme is not only informative but also entertaining. In the case of Brittany, she explored the themes of passion, defiance for the best purpose, commitment, and patience. The Brittany Costco paper reflects a good grasp of the English language, the flow of ideas, and use of vocabulary such as “finitude” or “juxtaposed” which makes the themes easy to spot. Even though, as this is a Costco essay analysis, we insist that you choose vocabularies that fit the context. But you do not have to write an essay on Costco, find the best experience that wows you, and nail it!
  4. Set the Tone. Another thing about the famous Costco college essay or the Brittany Costco essay is evident in the tone that the writer used. While it is official or formal writing, Brittany twisted the nuts and squeezed the juice right into the rightful mouths. Humor and seriousness are neatly woven into the essay in a manner that it attains its purpose. We have written the best personal statements for students, but reading this helped us set the bar higher. While she describes herself as obstinate with “chubby” legs, she acknowledges that she was driven with purpose - to acquire knowledge, which sarcastically elicits good moods. So, when you want to write a personal statement that will get you admission to any college or university, go the Costco personal statement way- make your tone memorable and conspicuous.

How to Write a Personal Statement and Get Accepted to Any University

Costco essay style gets you to college

There are great lessons we can learn from Costco's personal statement. Instead of creating something similar, follow the steps below to craft the best personal statement:

  1. Every excellent paper be it a personal statement was once an idea in the brain. When writing personal statements, we always encourage our writers to brainstorm with the clients. Go through your personal experiences growing up and trace when the passion kicked in to study what you yearn to study. Listen to yourself, sweep through your past, and relax as you plan the paper.
  2. Be Original, Always. Well, there are many personal statements and admission essay examples online. However, it would help if you only read through them as an inspiration and not a direct reference for your personal statement template. When writing a common app essay, imagine your personal experiences and relate them with the college essay prompts. For instance, if you liked watching baseball or playing hockey, critically show how they influenced you with team spirit, dedication, and resilience. Sometimes, connect your experiences to past academic performances.
  3. Simplicity is King! As with the Costco college essay, where Brittany totally kept everything straightforward and sporadically threw in vocabularies, your college essay should be simple. We have been writing college essays and how we simply connect experiences to academic performances, and passion always leaves our clients aghast!
  4. Be Confident and remain Unapologetic. The Costco essays show the side of Brittany that is unapologetic for the past, which makes her win over her audience. She boldly claims that she went against her mother’s wishes, but it was all for a great course. If your past mistakes made you fail, be bold enough to connect them with ideas that later got you on toes! And when you write a personal statement boldly and bravely, there is a 100% chance of getting accepted.
  5. Be truthful; do not fake it to make it. When writing a personal statement for college, do not let your creativity and imagination lead you to create unsustainable lies. Like in the Costco college essay, always maintain the truth as it is even when it hurts. Truth has its way of winning hearts, but that is only the opposite in the criminal justice system.
  6. Proofread, Re-read, edit, Repeat! It is always great to spend time combing through your completed personal statement. If you have that weakness or are too tired to do it, seek the services of essay editing services online. There are some glaring mistakes and latent ideas that can flaw an Ivy League equivalent essay, and a third eye can spot the errors.

Should Applicants Read the Costco College Essay?

accepted for writing best college personal statement, the Costco style

Well, like many other free college essay samples, the Costco application essay can enthuse confidence for anybody writing an application essay. The example shows how to write a personal statement without fear. It is also a great personal essay template, especially for graduate school essays. The graduate school essays require a critical, in-depth, and logical approach.

Reading the Costco essay will acquaint you with how to use transition words, vocabulary, and hooks in personal statements.

Nevertheless, the Costco essay is not a gold standard. There are other essays that were written and published online to be accessed as free personal statement examples. So, even as you read, don’t be blinded not to research. There are many templated and formats on the internet. There is a risk of plagiarizing an essay such as the Costco college essay when many applicants read it.

So, only gain inspiration to write a well-crafted, edited, and organized college personal statement!

Can someone help with Writing College Personal Essays?

If you are getting ready to write an application essay and do not understand how we can help, our custom college essay writing service is all you need.  We offer personal statement writing assistance at affordable rates.

Even though you might feel like the Costco essay type is the best, our writers will surprise you even more. We have even related high-school failures to personalities and gotten many students admissions and acceptance to college.

Note that we only provide sample college admission essays and coach students through our essay writers. Gradecrest also offers other range of writing services such as paper writing services. We also help students with term papers, research papers, capstone projects, book reviews, article critiques, and book reports.

In short, you can trust us with an application essay for any program, and we will get you a great writer in your field.